Williams looking forward to rematch with Martinez

Paul Williams wants everyone to forget about the last time he fought Sergio Martinez, though that's asking quite a bit.

After all, their matchup in December was one of the best fights of the year.

Williams won a close decision after standing toe-to-toe with Martinez for 12 rounds inside the smaller ballroom at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, a matchup that saw both fighters hit the canvas in the opening round. But even now, Williams doesn't believe he was at his best, taking the fight on three weeks' notice after a bout with Kelly Pavlik fell through.

So he's looking forward to the rematch Nov. 20 at Boardwalk Hall, and a chance to prove that he doesn't need the full distance to beat Martinez - who, incidentally, knocked off Pavlik to become middleweight champion since the last time they met.

"I'm going to do what I do best, I'm just going to put a real beating on him this time," Williams said Wednesday. "It's never personal, always business."

Truth be told, business hasn't been all that good for Williams lately.

He's beaten some big names, some of them already past their prime, but he's generally been avoided by the top fighters in the sport. At 6-foot-1 with a lithe frame that allows him to fight anywhere from middleweight to welterweight, Williams poses matchup problems for everybody.

The daunting physical challenge isn't the only thing that's kept him from landing a fight against the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Williams is also relatively unknown to the general public, which means he brings very little to a pay-per-view production - where the big money is found for boxing's top tier of stars.

Williams and Martinez waged perhaps one of the greatest fights of 2009 in their first go-around, but only a couple thousand people saw it in person. They'll move to the main arena at Boardwalk Hall for the rematch in the hopes that more casual fans give them a chance.

"It's a fight that we're all getting excited about, it's great for our business and our sport," Williams promoter Dan Goossen said. "He's following in the footsteps of a Marvin Hagler, with what Marvin had to go through for many years, and all of a sudden the floodgates open."

If nothing else, the two fighters are doing enough to hype the bout with their words.

Martinez is a pretty genial guy, with movie star-like looks and a smile that lights up the room. But he was almost combative during a conference call with reporters, insisting that he won their first fight and saying that Williams' team is "afraid" to fight him again.

"I'm not here to make any excuses like Paul Williams, saying he had a short camp and this and that. I'm not about that," Martinez said through a translator. "What's going to happen is he's going to get beat on Nov. 20, and don't look for any excuses. Please."

Much like Williams, Martinez has been slighted by the casual sports fan, mostly because the 35-year-old from Argentina is a relatively late bloomer. He's only been on television in the United States a handful of times, with only a few big-name opponents on his resume.

One of them is Pavlik, though, whom he methodically broke down to win an unanimous decision and the WBC and WBO versions of the middleweight title at Boardwalk Hall in April.

Martinez was forced to give up the WBO belt, but he'll defend the WBC version next month.

"I feel like Martinez stole something from me, he stole the belts that are supposed to be mine," Williams said, referring to his proposed fight against Pavlik that fell through. "That's even more motivation for me to go in there and put on a hell of a fight."